Over 1.28 Lakh Consumers And PETA Urge Oreo-Manufacturer Mondelez To Ban Controversial Animal Testing Practices

In a letter written to Mondelez International’s executive vice president and president for Asia, Middle East and Africa Deepak Iyer, PETA India urged Mondelēz to ban all tests on animals unless explicitly required by law. The animal welfare organisation alleged that the company’s policy allows it to fund experiments like force-feeding mice with feces from obese women, human feces, chemical, glass beads and glucose followed by killing and dissecting them.

Consumers Demand Company Join ‘Eat Without Experiments’ Pledge Against Non-Essential Animal Testing

The accusations have created a huge uproar among consumers as more than 1.28 lakh people have contacted the company through online action alerts via PETA India, PETA Germany, PETA US, PETA UK, PETA France, PETA Netherlands, PETA Australia, PETA Latino, and PETA2, calling for a ban on animal testing. More than 400 food and beverage companies, including Ferrero and Unilever, have already signed up to PETA’s ‘eat Without experiments’ program, pledging to refrain from non-legally required animal testing, claimed the NGO.

Dr. Anjana Aggarwal, PETA India’s scientist and research policy advisor, said, “Force-feeding mice with harmful faecal bacteria, chemicals and glass beads is completely unacceptable and should have been banned long ago, especially when these experiments have no scientific or legal basis. We call on Mondelēz to finally turn its back on animal testing and join the many companies that have joined PETA’s eat without experiments program. The damage to brand reputation from continuing to conduct or fund these tests is growing by the day, and consumers worldwide no longer want to support it.”

PETA India said that common food ingredients, for which there are no toxicity concerns, should not be tested on animals. Studies such as these could be carried out safely with consenting human volunteers, which, unlike animal testing, would allow clinically relevant results to be obtained, it added.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/over-128-lakh-consumers-and-peta-urge-oreo-manufacturer-mondelez-to-ban-controversial-animal-testing-practices